Day 22 - Perth Last Day

Ok so today we went to a real Farmers Market, it was in Subiaco just near where we are staying. There was fresh fruit, veggies, meat, fish, Breakfast…. The Brekky Burger I had was awesome & a big glass of home made lemonade. Simon & Kristine, forget Yering…. Get to Subiaco on Saturday mornings! I had an Organic Wholemeal Baguette with Maple Smoked Bacon, Tomato, Basil, Lettuce and Mayo…Mmmmm!  And I drank most of James’ lemonade.

We bought a T Bone & a porterhouse steak which we had for tea tonight, it was organic, grain fed, chemical free. And then cooked to perfection by my wife…. It was amazing! Sorry to all the Vegies out there, you don’t know what you are missing out on. We also bought a yummy blend of Fetta, Ricotta and Grain Mustard that we put on top of the steak….double Mmmmm!!

Busy day today…. Farmers market this morning, tour of Perth this afternoon, Catch up with Flick & Emma this evening…. We were going to catch up with Marc too but just ran out of time! Sorry Marc. So it will be a short blog today. Will call you tomorrow Marc….day just disappeared. Sorry.

Did manage to watch Jamie Whincup win the V8 race in Darwin today though, he is good. I am a fan of his teammate Lowndes, I can remember watching him as a 19yr old race at Bathurst for the first time. He did good too, he started in 20^th position & finished in 4^th! Not bad huh, do any of you watch the V8’s?

Tomorrow we are going back to the van….. Yeah!!! I’ve missed it, as much as the extra space of the unit is good…. It is more homely in the van. Now if only we get back before the 2^nd V8 race!

For those of you who have not been to Perth…. You should get here, it is a very nice city. The Swan river is beautiful & there seems to be a really good network of bike & walking paths. Ness & I both commented on the number of people riding bikes & walking or running. The slogan for this place should be “Perth… the Healthy City.”

Speak to you all tomorrow.

Hey apologies to all of you for having to type stupid codes into the blog to reply, last time we did this you didn’t have to do it, but with advances in technology they have been getting more & more spam on these sites so it is supposed to cut it down.

Reader’s comments

Sue our neighbour has agreed to be our resident Botanist on the trip…. Meet you soon Sue!

Unca Rob & Unca Juan have commenced their amazing trip, they are currently in Dubai on the way to everywhere! They have offered to add to Annie’s shoe collection when they get to Italy with a nice pair of Italian leather shoes….. Thanks! I’ll keep a lookout for a pair of Pink Ugg boots in your size Rob…. You can use them to cry in when Collingwood get beat AGAIN!

Annie’s Blog

Did it again! Slept right through the night & Mum & Dad were sooooo happy with me. When I get older & go out & stay up late, or get into trouble….. I know that all I have to do is sleep through the whole night & all will be forgiven…. They will be happy with me again!

Went to another farmers market today…. Boring! Mum & Dad both said this one was better than the other ones we have been to, but once you have seen one tent with eggs, veggies & fruit you have seen them all!

Saw my friend Flick tonight & her daughter Emma….that was fun, Flick wanted to teach me to Fart? But I don’t know what that means. Maybe you can teach me to swim instead Flick?

We are going back to the box on wheels tomorrow, I’m happy about this…. Then Mum & Dad will be in the same 4 walls as me, when we were in this hotel they slept in a separate room and always shut the door at night…. I wonder what they were doing in there? And I wonder why we stayed here for four nights?

Goodnight all

AnnieInAVan….XXX

Day 21 - Perth

Hey Blog people, how has your week been? Mine has been pretty darn good. Because yesterday’s blog was almost a novel today I’m going to fill you in on a few minor things that have been happening with us all.

I worked yesterday, it was the first day I have worked (at a site, I still work when I am not actually visiting sites) it was for Downer EDI Rail. These guys & girls clean & maintain the trains. They have a scheduled maintenance program where they pull a train out of the system for 24hrs & go right through it, they clean all the graffiti off the train, fix broken seats, replace blown bulbs & give the train a good old going over. I was really interested in how they do it all.

They also have the maintenance crews check brakes, and all of the systems work like they should.

It’s sad that the biggest safety risk these people face are the things that people leave ON the train. Syringes, used condoms, broken glass, knives stuffed down the back of seats when transit police come on board. It is such a pity that we live in a time when these things are so common.

Today we decided we would go to Kings Park here in Perth. What a beautiful place, they have managed to create a place that is beautiful & practical, there are walking paths everywhere, an art gallery & café with views of the city & the Swan river. Rio Tinto has obviously chucked money at them because they have a section in the park call the Rio Tinto Nature Scape, a nice little area where kids can go & “Play” they have rope swings, manmade ponds, lookouts that kids can climb. Nice!

Earlier this week I told you that I had been asked to do an “urgent” job for a site that had not booked us on our trip. After talking with Ness (& listening to many of you give me advice) I decided to do the job, they said they would fly me up in the morning, get me to speak to the site & then fly me back in the afternoon. Great we thought, a bonus job that would pay for Ness’s shoes & my flight over the Bungle Bungles!

All good until we heard back from the company telling us that the charter flight company have refused to fly me to site. Due to them not having the facilities to get a disabled passenger on or off the plane. I even offered to crawl off the plane on my bum (I have done this before…. Many times)

So to cut a long story short…. I’m not doing the job now. I’ll do this site later in the year, but the good thing is the site was extremely happy that we agreed to try to fit them in & I’m sure it will lead to more work from them.

Annie got a new pair of Ugg boots today, we were at the shops & looking for a sheepskin rug to put in her cot, but ended up with a pair of pink sheepskin Ugg Boots. Look like she will end up with her mums shoe obsession!

Chips & gravy, the last couple of weeks we have occasionally succumbed to “Junk Food” and you know what? I LOVE chips & gravy, give me chips & gravy over a burger any time…. I’m coming back from this trip 30KG heavier!!! Annie apparently likes it tooo….as she seems to get chips every time Dad does.

Reader’s comments

My sister normally hates footy season, she loses her husband 3-4 nights a week to whatever footy game is on TV, but she has finally seen the light! She will be watching the State of Origin in a couple of weeks & hopefully NSW will win.

Sue gave us her opinion on the guy who asked me a stupid question….Thanks Sue. Hey we saw a plant today that we liked, will send you through a picture for you to ID for us.

Mel told us that she bought 6 pairs of shoes in one hit!.... Mel I have the name of a good therapist for you…. You need help, take my wife & daughter with you please!

And finally Kristine said hello along with Annie’s friends Jack & Grace. We were talking the other day & I said to Ness “Haven’t heard from Simon or Kristine on the blog” only for Ness to check & find that they were not on the blog list! Sorry S,K,J & G…… it was our fault….. make sure you send through regular messages. Sorry guys… L

Annie’s Blog

This morning was unbelievable, my Dad came to get me out of the cot and he was crazy, he kept saying I was amazing & awesome last night…. I looked around to see if I had repainted the room, or moved the furniture….. But again it was just because I slept all night. These parents are so easily pleased…. I sleep for 12 hours & they go silly over me.

Mum bought me these furry boots today, Dad called them UG boots? I don’t know why, but they are cute & furry & pink. I love them.

Hey I got this new funny game with Mum & Dad, if they keep pushing me in my pram, or if we are out somewhere and there is lots to see I stay really quiet & laugh & sing.

But if Mum or Dad want to look at something in a shop I scream really loud or I pretend to start to cry and it stops them from looking at what they want to look at…..Hahaha its sooooo funny, today my Dad was trying to find a book to read and I just screamed & cried every time he tried to see what the book was about….. In the end we just left the shop!

Kids drinks….. When do I get a coffee or a red wine? I’ve been noticing that sometimes when Mum & Dad are at a café they order a coffee or a hot chocolate & occasionally Dad will have a beer or Mum will get some wine stuff….. What do I get? Water from my cup! It just tastes the same over & over again. I want a bit of variety!

Goodnight everyone. Have a fun weekend.

Love from AnnieInAVan….XXX

Day 20 -Perth

We are back in civilization, well not that we have ever been out of it, but we have gone from our own little world inside the Land Rover & Trakmaster, to a world where we have neighbors, traffic & other people to deal with.

So the story goes like this. I had work in Perth & we looked at the availability of a caravan park near the city but that was not going to work so we decided just to leave the van at Bunbury & stay in a hotel for a few days. But wait there is more……

Ness used to work in hospitality, hotels & the like…. So she has a lot of friends that still work in hospitality. Ness rang one(Marc) & asked if they had a room for the time that we needed one. Marc then rang his contact in Perth & they said they could do 3 of the 4 nights we needed, but we would have to stay somewhere else on the 1^st night (Last night)

Now some of you may not know this but Perth is going crazy when it comes to accommodation, because of the mining boom most hotels run at 100% full & you usually have to book weeks or months ahead. So we rang several places to try & find accommodation just for 1 night.

Eventually found a Quest apartment, they said they only had 1 nights accomodation for the night we needed….Perfect.

But as is usually the case things change…… on the way up to Perth yesterday we had a phone call from the first hotel saying they could now accommodate us for the 4 nights, Ok…you still following me? But we then rang the 2^nd hotel where we were booked for only 1 night & asked if we could cancel. As is there right they advised us that because it was less than 24hrs they would have to charge us a cancellation fee of the full room rate! But they also said that they could now have us for the full 4 nights too!

So we then made a snap decision to leave things as they were & stay one night at Quest & the other 3 nights at the other place.

Ok that brings us to today, we stayed at Quest last night in a very new & modern roomy comfortable apartment & checked out this morning, Ness packed the car and we headed to the new place.

When we arrived we were impressed that it was right in the city, but a bit concerned at the pre arranged car parking ($25 a night!) it was under the hotel and the Land Rover only just made it. But the small spaces out the back were impossible to get into, especially for me as I need to get my door open wide to get my chair in & out. We then went up to the room & were a little disappointed that the room was not exactly what we expected….. now I have to say here that this was in no way Marc’s fault, as he has never been to this property. But lets just say that we had more room to move at the quest apartment, and the car parking was much easier for me to get in & out.

Ok so time for another decision…..stay or move back to Quest? We decided that because I had to work tonight, it would be easier if we were at Quest so Ness would not have to come and move the car for me. So a quick call to Quest to see if the room was still available(it was) and we packed the car again and headed back to Quest.

I must mention that the staff at the hotel were fantastic, when we explained our reasons for not staying they were most understanding & did not charge us at all. Marc if you want me to write a feedback letter I am more than happy to, they were great.

So we are now back at Quest & will be here till Sunday. Our day has consisted of driving to a hotel & packing & unpacking the car 4 times!!!!! So much for our planned visit to Kings Park & a walk through the city!

Stupid Questions

They say there is no such thing as a stupid question…. But I beg to differ! I don’t remember if I talked about this on our last trip blog, but as there are new readers ill bring it up again.

You all know that I visit workplaces and tell my story, I tell people how my accident happened and try to give them an idea of what it’s like to get hurt at work (or anywhere really)

But it also gives people the opportunity to ask me questions, a lot of people have never had the opportunity to ask someone in my situation a question.

Over the years I have had everything asked, how do I do this, can you feel that, how does this work, etc etc. but the one question that I get occasionally (only once or twice a year) still confuses me and a guy asked me again today.

He said “Mate if your legs don’t work, why don’t you get them cut off?”

Now I’ve tried to justify the reason someone would ask me that but to this day I just cant. For a start my legs still look “Normal” when I sit on the couch or in the car or even in my wheelchair I am a “Whole” person. And the other thing is if they ever come up with a cure for Spinal Cord Injury I’d be pretty annoyed if I’d had my legs cut off!

I don’t know what people think when they ask me this, maybe it is just that they don’t work so get rid of them mentality.

The other thing that I get often is the “God” issue…. I have people tell me that “If I believe in God I will walk again” I like this because it shows me that some people still have strong beliefs and I feel we are all entitled to believe in whatever we want to believe in. But I don’t believe we should push our beliefs onto others.

That’s my blog for tonight, have a lovely evening. Did any of you see that great game of NRL last night? My team finally won a game after being beaten by Qld last month. Now we just have to win in Qld to wrap up the series…. Go Blues (NSW….Not Carlton!)

Reader’s Responses

Had a couple of messages from long time readers but first time messages.

Campbell….Good to hear from you mate, Annie’s first birthday in September….I’m fighting a battle to keep the black & white demons (Collingwood) away from my daughter. Need your help to sway her over to the Swans & the Red & White….. or ABC (Anything but Collingwood)

Ilsa… Vanessa does not need your encouragement to buy shoes! Good to hear from you too Ils, hope all is going well with you.

Sue F, Emily, Arama & Ilsa all gave me advice on the job I have been offered. Thanks girls, great to know that if Ness ever wants to retire from running our business I have lots of capable business advisors.

Annie’s friends William & Edward gave Annie some advice on Magic Fairy droppings and asked how to get teeth out quicker.

And my sister Heather told everyone what I was leaving her in my will! Thanks Heather now it won’t be a surprise!

Special mention to my Brother in law Brad A, mate it has been a long time coming but it was worth it. Now lets see those whingeing Qld mongrels tell everyone they were robbed! Bring on game 3!

Annie’s Blog

Where am I? I was just getting used to the box on wheels and my comfy cot and then I end up in this place that has this soft stuff on the floor? Wow it is awesome at our place at home we have bricks on our floors & a few rugs, this place has got this soft furry stuff and it is so cool to crawl around on. I love it and I think mum & Dad should get this stuff on the floor at our house.

William my friend wrote and asked how my teeth came through as his are really hurting. William they just came through, I didn’t really have too much trouble with them, mum put this funny tasting stuff on my gums it was called jonbellow or something! Good luck with it.

Hahaha….. Edward was in his pram yesterday and a Magic Flying Fairy dropped magic droppings on his pram….. you are so lucky Edward, did you eat it? If I am lucky enough to get dropped on I’m going to eat it I reckon it will be magic!

Arama told me to keep smiling, it’s hard not to smile when I live with Mum & Dad, you should have seen them arguing with the box on the dash that tells Dad where to drive. It was so funny, Mum was sticking up for the box & Dad was calling it stupid names and saying he was going to Burn it when he gets home…. I don’t think it will last that long!

Good night to everyone.

Love….AnnieInAVan…XXX

Day 19 - Bunbury to Perth

Wow what a storm, last night was horrific, the van was rocking & rolling, the noise of the wind & rain was deafening & it was quite a severe storm. It never got to the point that we were worried or really scared but it was a shocker of a storm & I’m sure it did some damage in places.  Speak for yourself…I was worried!!

Thanks to everyone who sent a message through asking if we were ok, yes all intact & no damage done to the car, van or us.

Today will be a little different as we leave the comfort of our van & head up to the city of Perth for 4 days. I have some work in Perth & we decided to go up & stay in a motel rather than try to find a caravan park in Perth.

Hey did you hear that a Dingo took Lindy & Michael Chamberlains daughter? Finally they got it right! It only took 32 years. I can remember in the early 80’s when it all happened, there were the jokes & the rumours, then the trials, a movie with Meryl Streep, and the retrials & court cases. Just goes to show how people that don’t react the way that people feel you should react can be judged on the reactions rather than the facts!..... I knew a dingo did it even when it first happened, I’ve seen foxes steal rabbits from burrows & how smart they can be around chicken coops.(not that a fox is a Dingo but they are just as smart) Just because Lindy & Michael did not act in a way that most people thought they should have…. They had to have something to do with what happened!..... Just my opinion of course.

I have a client who is desperate to use me at his site in WA, it is not on our planned route so he has offered to fly me to the nearest town & then drive me out to site for a couple of days. He left it to the last minute as he knew we were planning this trip but he did not organise anything with Ness.

So my dilemma is do I go to his site? I have a few days where I could fit it in, but it would mean leaving Ness & Annie for 2-3 days. Or do I say “Nope” the trip is already planned & can’t fit it in?

Don’t know why I’m sharing this with you….. maybe just thinking out aloud, and also gives me something to write about. Or maybe I should charge him double my daily rate & make it worth our while (& pay for some of Ness’s washing) and see if he really wants us?

Go the Blues in tonight’s State of Orgin!!

Readers’ comments

Kirsten & Edward asked how we were late last night, I’m guessing Edward was awake & his mum was filling in time checking the net for messages?

Meredith commented on washing in the van, we might have to look into a van washing machine M, this is costing us a fortune.

Emily also asked if we were ok? Yep so far so good Emily. We are planning another trip in October & November through NSW & Qld so hopefully we will see you on the way through.

Sue agrees with us that Collie & this area is not nice, yes…..i can imagine 20 or 30 years ago this would have been a sleepy coastal town, now mining money has turned it into a real yuppiesville. Lots of fancy houses that only get used when the miners get sick of Perth.

Tereasa suggested we hook the car up to the van as an anchor, thought of that T but decided that if things got really bad we would need the car to get out!

Egg said he had to make a run for the ensuite too…… Different reasons I’m guessing Egg!

Annie’s Blog

Hello Everyone, when I woke up this morning my Mum & Dad were talking about how bad it was last night. I got no idea what they are talking about? I had a great night sleep. Woke up for a midnight snack, but apart from that I was comfy as! I dreamt that the van was moving & there were loud noises outside but it didn’t stop me from sleeping!

When I was at the shops yesterday some ladies told me I was a happy baby! What is happy? Is it because I smile a lot? I mean if you lived with us & saw some of the things that my Mum & Dad do & say you would smile a lot too! I can’t wait till I can shake my head & then when Mum & Dad do silly stuff ill just shake my head at them!

Mum told me we have to leave the Box on wheels here for a few days and we are going to stay in a hotel? I don’t know what that means but ill find out today. I hope the box on wheels doesn’t get lonely while we are away? Ill miss it & will be happy to see it again on Saturday.

Ok I have to go get dressed, I bet my Mum puts me in the Best & Less clothes! Lets see how long they last for?

Have a fun day people.

AnnieInAVan….Mwaaaah!

Day 18 - Batten down the hatches!!

So after last nights disappointing caravan park experience we hooked up the van & travelled 47km to Bunbury. Now all over the news there has been severe storm alerts for the south of WA. So we are bang smack in the middle of it. Time for my Bear Grills instincts to kick in & get us ready for what could almost be a category 2 cyclone (125km/h winds).

The park here has closed all of the sites near trees & they gave us a site with an ensuite (its own toilet & shower block) now the ensuite is a fairly solid brick building so if the Poo does hit the fan we can always shelter in there. Ness spoke to our neighbors who come from Townsville & they said they went through Cyclone Yasi last year & they gave us a few ideas too. So we put all loose items away, locked everything that can lock, filled up all of our water tanks (we can carry 300 litres of water so that is an extra 300kg of weight in the van) and as I type this we are waiting to see what happens.

Don’t get me wrong here we are not being silly, we have checked the forecast, prepared appropriately & have back up plans (the ensuite) but it will be a wild & woolly night.  As I read this I am about ready to run for the ensuite.

That reminds me of our last trip, for those of you who remember everywhere we went the bad weather seemed to follow us, floods in Qld, an earthquake in Kalgoorlie. (not exactly bad weather)

Our pet fly. When we were in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago Ness & I were lying in bed & there was a fly in the van, it landed on the TV, then on the curtains & occasionally it landed on us only to be shooed away. Over the last week or so we have seen the same fly (we KNOW it is the same fly) we checked on google & a fly can live for 2-4 weeks, so we will be sad when our little friend disappears. Oh no we won’t…

The cost of washing. Ok so we have an 8 month old with us, and we have me (I’m not the cleanest when it comes to clothes) so we do need to do some washing. I reckon that caravan parks don’t make money out of site fees, but they sure make money out of washing your clothes! All of the sites we have been to charge at least $4 a load for washing & $4 for drying…..and it usually takes 2 lots to get it dry properly!!! I reckon by the time we finish this trip Ness will have paid enough to buy a washing machine!

Ok gotta go, need to get the blog up in case we lose power/phone connection.

But just a quick mention, some of you know of our neighbors Bill & Sue, they live down the road from us & have a B&B on their property. They have a new website & it’s worth having a look. For any of you interstaters it is walking distance to our house or even for those of you who want a quiet weekend away in the Yarra Valley….. This is the place you need. Have a look at The Burrow at Wombat Bend www.wombatbend.com

Reader’s comments & my replies

Hi to Liz, nice to hear from you. Sorry I make you late for work, but I am used to getting blamed for everything in the world so I’ll just cop it!

Sue advised me to ditch the GPS….. Might wait till I find a nice place in the Pilbara Sue & have a ceremonial bonfire & burn it!.... On second thoughts it might like that as it is evil…. Maybe I’ll drop it into a charity bin for a new owner.

Heather told me to give the Collie caravan park owner a demonstration of how I shower & go to the loo? No thanks!!!

Meredith….Yep got a full refund!... I would have been a very angry 4ft high person had we not!

Got some fashion advice from my son Brad!... the son that wore a Pink beanie with pigtails attached to it on our camping trip last year!!!

My mate Dan Cooney sent through a message….. Hey Dan, will hopefully see you in Kununurra later on the trip. You better not be lying about the weather!

Tereasa wants to know if we will still be doing caravan trips in 10 years so they can come on one with us. T, if I had my way we will still be on the same trip in 10 years! I’d give up all the stuff that ties you down just to travel full time!

Dave R pointed out that Collie & Collingwood are both crap! Good one Dave, I agree. But mate, a food smoker in the caravan? Its only 20ft long….. and with all the shoes that Ness brings there is hardly enough room as it is. Oh & we have a Bumbo with a tray, it is great!

Annie’s Blog

How long do I have to wear nappies for? I’m sick of them already. I wake up & the first thing Mum or Dad do is change my nappy, I have breakfast & a play….Then they change my nappy, I have a snooze… Another nappy. It just goes on & on & on! Dad keeps saying to Mum…”Does she need a new nappy?” Oh and they are so uncomfy….. you try moving about with a pillow between your legs! I’m over this baby stage…..Bring on puberty!

Mum has a new favourite store…. Best & Less. We went to the one in Albany & I got this cool purple sleeveless furry hoody. But when she was there she saw other stuff that she wanted for me. Dad said to buy it then but mum didn’t listen. So anyway when we came to this new place (Dad made a joke with me and said it was called Bumbury…..He cracks himself up sometimes) she wanted to go to Best & Less. So we went there & got some new clothes for me, some of the things they bought me were only $4 for a pair of leg in’s….. Bet you they only last me a week!

Tonight the box on wheels is shaky, there is lots of wind & rain. I’m going to sleep soon because if the rain keeps going it will be too noisy to sleep. Well Punky…you are asleep now and it is all happening, so hopefully you stay that way.  That is unless you Mum finds it too scare and picks you up and takes you into the brick ensuite.

Goodnight friends & family

AnnieInAVan

xoxo